| Summary : Heanor Marlpool Junior County School was designed by George H. Widdows and was completed in 1906. It was one of a large number of new schools built to Widdows' designs by Derbyshire County Council in the early 20th century. Widdows' developed four different plan types and Heanor Marlpool School seems to be a precursor of his second type, which date from around 1910-1911. The school is built of red brick on a black brick plinth, with steeply pitched tile roofs with four ridge stacks, and tile dressings. Its plan is of the simple corridor type, with an enclosed corridor rather than an open verandah. The roof is the dominant feature of the north-west elevation, extending forward in the centre over a slightly advanced central section, which once contained a pair of doors either side of a window. These have been replaced with small windows. The entrance leads directly onto the corridor that links the classrooms, and there is no evidence that this was once and open sided verandah. All the main spaces survivve, with larger classrooms at either end and two smaller classrooms on either side of the cloakroom. The school has been considerably altered and extended in recent years. |
More information : Heanor Marlpool Junior County School was designed by the architect George H. Widdows (1871-1946) and was completed in 1906. It was one of a large number of new schools built to Widdows' designs by Derbyshire County Council in the early 20th century. Derbyshire had the greatest percentage increase in population in the country in the 1890s, particularly due to the growth of the coal mining and textile manufacturing communities in the east of the county. Widdows had come to Derbyshire in 1897 as Chief Architectural Assistant to Derby Corporation. Following the 1902 Education Act, responsibility for schools in the county passed to Derbyshire County Council. In 1904 Widdows was appointed architect to the Council's Education Committee. In 1910 he was appointed Chief Architect to the Council, although schools remained his predominant concern. By the time he retired in 1936, he had designed some sixty elementary and seventeen secondary schools.
Widdows was at the forefront of the movement to build schools in which high standards of hygiene were as important as educational provision. The first major conference on school hygiene was held in 1904, and in 1907 the Board of Health brought in legislation which required schools to become subject to regular medical inspections. Widdows worked with his Medical Officer, Sidney Barwise, and two deputy architects, C. A. Edeson and T. Walker, to develop a series of innovative designs introducing high levels of natural daylight and effective cross ventilation in schools. His designs, in a neo-vernacular style, were characterised by open verandah-style corridors linking classrooms with generous full-height windows. His distinctive and influential plan forms were based on a linear module which could be arranged in different configurations to suit the size of school required and the shape of the available site. This was a significant move away from the standard Board School plan introduced by E. R. Robson, with its central assembly hall and classrooms to three sides.
Widdows' pre-1914 elementary schools can be broadly divided into four plan types. Heanor Marlpool Junior School seems to be a precursor of his second type, the earliest examples of which date from around 1910-11 and comprise a more standardised linear form, with a larger classroom at each end, and often a freestanding hall with linking corridor to the rear. The school has been considerably altered in recent years. It has been extended at the north-east end by the addition of a kitchen, and all the external windows have been replaced with uPVC. Some external doors have been blocked.
The school is built of red brick on a black brick plinth, with steeply pitched tile roofs with four ridge stacks, and tile dressings. Its plan is of the simple corridor type, with an enclosed corridor rather than an open verandah. The roof is the dominant feature of the north-west elevation, extending forward in the centre over a slightly advanced central section, which once contained a pair of doors either side of a window; these have been replaced with small windows. To either side of this central section are four windows set immediately under the eaves, and two double doors under cambered arches. At the north east end is a modern flat roofed extension. The south-east elevation had a central wide entrance with a cambered arched opening flanked by two narrow windows; the lower half of the door has been bricked up, and a window inserted into the upper half. To either side are full height gables with tile kneelers and with three windows each, the taller central window with a brick relieving arch. Above and to either side of this arch are three sets of ventilation holes, each forming a diamond pattern. The extension is built in front of the north-east end of the elevation. All windows are uPVC.
The entrance from the north-west leads directly onto the corridor that links the classrooms; there is no evidence that this was ever an open sided verandah. All the main spaces survive, with larger classrooms at either end, and two smaller classrooms on either side of the cloakroom. This has modern breeze-block subdivisions, but retains its dado height glazed bricks, painted over. Unpainted brown glazed skirting bricks survive in the classrooms. Chimney breasts survive, but there are no fireplaces. Original joinery is restricted to half glazed doors to the classrooms and windows between corridors and classrooms. All classrooms have false ceilings.
Heanor Marlpool Junior County School is of interest as an example of a precursor to the fully developed simple corridor plan, illustrated in the article in The Builder of 1913, and its plan remains reasonably legible. However, the additions at the north-east end, the subdivision of the cloakroom area, and the blocking of some external doors means that it is too much altered to be of special interest. The design of both main elevations is well balanced, but the addition to the north-east intrudes across this end of the south-east elevation, and the facades are plain with limited detail. The appearance of both interior and exterior has been marred by the replacement uPVC windows, which have also resulted in the loss of one of Widdows' signature details, the hopper openings, the ghosts of which survive beneath the paintwork in the classrooms and corridor. Fireplaces have also been completely removed and although some internal detail survives, for instance, glazed skirting bricks, half glazed doors and windows between classrooms and corridor, these are not sufficient to make the building of special interest and therefore the building is not recommended for lsiting.
SOURCES
G. H. Widdows, 'Derbyshire Elementary Schools: Principles of Planning', paper presented to Royal Sanitary Institute on 25 February 1910, in Royal Sanitary Institute Journal (1910), 92-116.
The Derbyshire Schools', The Builder, Vol. 105 (31 October 1913), 460-461.
The Builder, Vol. 107 (10 July 1914), 44-45; (17 July 1914), 74-75.
G. H. Widdows, 'School Design', RIBA Journal, Vol. 29, No. 2 (26 November 1921), 33-45. (1)
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